-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Auto high beams
- Thread starter robl45
- Start date
Tarpan
Member
danarcha
Member
That seems normal. I usually have to push the left stalk forward once to get the grayed-out auto high beam icon to appear. Then auto high beams will work. Well.. it doesn't work great.. it functions about as well as auto wipers. But it is active after I push the stalk forward once.
It will stay in auto once you set it.
There is the auto high beam icon in the setting menu that toggles between automatic and manual high beams.
Then you have the forward position on the turn signal stalk. That enables and disables high beams. When auto high beams are selected, pushing the stalk forward enables them and the gray auto high beam icon will appear. Push forward again and it disables them (low beam only) and the gray icon will disappear.
The Tesla should stay wherever you had it last. Check again. Is yours behaving differently?
Some confusion with terms here.
Tesla decided to implement a hybrid design where you enable auto high beams in the settings then, you use the stalk to “prime” them. That way, if the auto system is over or under reacting, you have a quick and easy way to disable it while driving rather than having to navigate the screen.
So, in short, it works like other systems but there’s a safety valve.
If you don’t trust automation at all, don’t enable it in the settings but, if you like automation, enable it then prime it. If it starts blinding people or you just don’t need it for a little while when it keeps coming on, a simple lever flick will suspend it until you want to give it back control.
Not to dive into another subject but might be nice if the wipers were as carefully implemented.
Tesla decided to implement a hybrid design where you enable auto high beams in the settings then, you use the stalk to “prime” them. That way, if the auto system is over or under reacting, you have a quick and easy way to disable it while driving rather than having to navigate the screen.
So, in short, it works like other systems but there’s a safety valve.
If you don’t trust automation at all, don’t enable it in the settings but, if you like automation, enable it then prime it. If it starts blinding people or you just don’t need it for a little while when it keeps coming on, a simple lever flick will suspend it until you want to give it back control.
Not to dive into another subject but might be nice if the wipers were as carefully implemented.
Tiger
Active Member
I see this a bit differently - I myself have poor vision in dark and use the stalk to actuate high beams manually when it does not yet pass the threshold of switching on automatically. Whenever there is oncoming traffic, I switch back to automatic (from stalk).
CameraJim
Member
The auto headlights have been working on my M3. In fact, they work better than I do, as I rarely remember to turn on my high beams on dark roads. I live in a small town, and the auto headlights stay on low when I'm on lighted streets and turn up as I leave town. So far, I haven't had any other drivers flashing back to me in complaint about high beams,, as they seem to dim quickly. It works at least as well as the feature did on my Lexus, though I must admit I miss the auto turning headlights on that car.
Not different behavior just different usage pattern. Just another reason it’s a valid design choice. That said, if it gets good enough that you can trust it or they let you dial in your vision needs, you might be able to just keep it on automatic so you don’t have to wait for the moment your poor eyesight picks up the vehicle before you let the auto beams stop blinding that driver.
Hmm, I haven’t tested it lately (except by accident) but it used to stay in auto from drive to drive. Will experiment but, unless they made a specific change and noted it in the manual, I’m guessing it’s not a design flaw but, rather, another update induced bug. If it has been changed and noted, can only guess they reverted to that behavior because their confidence in the auto system wasn’t as high as they’d like; can’t say I disagree as an urban dweller with good night vision. Another reason it could benefit from having user/location based settings rather than just an on off switch.
In every other car I've driven with auto-dipping high beam you still have to manually switch on the high beam, although that typically means it stays on if you leave the stalk in the physical high beam position. The auto part is the dipping, not switching on the high beam.
The difference with the Tesla M3 is that the high beam switch is not like a traditional stalk that stays in a physical "on" or "off" position - it is just a momentary micro-switch. Although I'm pretty sure mine (2021 car) remembers what setting it was last left in. So if you leave the car with high beam switched on (auto-dipping or not), it remains on next time you get in the car. All cars have the ability to manually switch from main (auto-dipping or not) to dipped beam only and I would imagine that is very much a legal requirement.
It's not a design flaw. Auto-dipping main beam doesn't mean the main beam has to be switched on all the time. You can still switch from dipped to (auto-dipping) main beam. I'm pretty sure that's a legal requirement in all cars. As I mentioned above I think my M3 remembers whether or not main beam was switched on when you last left the car.
surfrasch
Member
They most definitely made a change on my last update in December. Mine used to remember the setting and I didn’t have to engage it with the stalk to start auto. Now I have to start it up each time. Not saying whether it’s good or bad, but definite change.
Similar threads
